Building Teacher Capacity to Personalize Learning for Students

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) proposes building teacher professional capacity and capital to meet the challenge of personalizing student learning by implementing an embedded professional learning plan. This plan will be responsive to individual teacher professional learning needs as well as evidence and research informed. This OIP is based on the belief that for change in student learning to occur, the change needs to happen at the classroom level with teachers. A shift in teacher practice requires alignment in the teacher’s values, beliefs and practices. To support this shift, a common understanding of personalizing learning needs to be established as well as implementing a professional learning plan that supports building teacher capacity to achieve it. Also, school-based conditions need to be optimized to support professional growth. As effective teaching and learning practices do not happen in isolation, an integrated theory of change helps ensure a balance between the external, internal and personal dimensions of change. Since the teacher’s personal dimension of change must adhere to the boundaries and expectations of the external governing bodies as well as work within the internal structures, policies and procedures of the school, this balance is integral to the success of the change process. Through the implementation of a multifaceted approach to professional learning, teachers will engage in a reflective cycle of continuous improvement. This will be supported by adaptive distributed instructional leadership as well as school structures that provide common teacher collaboration time. Three key areas of focus are targeted with this approach. These include deepening curricular knowledge, strengthening pedagogical practices and increasing individual teacher’s ability to understand each student learner and include them as active participants in the design of their learning

Comparative pharmacoeconomic analysis and qualitative evaluation methods of antibiotic prophylaxis during cataract surgery

Purpose. Comparative evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis systemic fluoroquinolones cataract. Methods. A retrospective randomized trial of postoperative infectious complications after 9 314 cataract surgery performed by «small sections» technology from 2012 to 2014. Group 1 patients received 0,5% levofloxacin instillation (4 times a day for three days before surgery), 2nd group patients received additional systemic levofloxacin (oral, 500 mg / day). Relative risk (RR), relative risk reduction (RRR) and absolute risk reduction (ATS) complications, the number of patients needed to treat (NNT) were сalculated. Results. In group of patients receiving antibiotic prophylaxis just as instillation fluoroquinolones, infection rates were 0,25%, while in the group where the patients received an additional fluoroquinolone systems but - 0,02%. RR 0,08, COP - 0,92 CAP - 0,23%, NNT - amounted to 423. The costs of systemic antimicrobial prophylaxis exceeded the cost of a local antibiotic prophylaxis 1,8 times. At the same time the costs of treatment which developed endophthalmitis in 12 group 1 exceeded the value of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis and treatment of endophthalmitis after systemic use of levofloxacin. Conclusions. System use of fluoroquinolones in the perioperative period of cataract surgery is an effective method of preventing infectious tion of postoperative complications as clinical as the economic aspects

Developing a forward-looking agenda and methodologies for research of self-use of medical abortion

Research has not kept abreast of women’s self-use of medical abortion, leaving many gaps in the scientific literature regarding the ideal conditions for safe and effective use. Therefore, our main objectives were to assess the research gaps highlighted during the conference, identify specific challenges to conducting research on medical abortion self-use, and to share promising research methodologies to advance this research. Although there are overlaps with the recommended and wellresearched practice of women’s self-management of the abortion process at home after receiving medical abortion medicines, screening and information from a clinician [1], our intent was focused on the emerging practice of self-use

Abortion Counselling in Britain: Understanding the Controversy

This article reviews literature from a number of disciplines in order to provide an explanation of the political controversy attached to the provision of abortion counselling. It will show how this is an area of health policy debate in which women's reproductive bodies have become a setting for political struggle. The issue of abortion counselling in Britain has undergone a number of discursive shifts in response to political manoeuvring and changing socio-legal framing of abortion. In particular, the article shows how much of the controversial reframing of abortion counselling was a tactical shift by political actors opposed to abortion per se, and this work is critiqued for not contextualising abortion. The article then focuses on women's abortion experiences and discusses research that shows how women's decision-making processes, and responses to an abortion, are related to gendered socio-cultural contexts: the extent to which women having an abortion feel they have transgressed societal norms and values, for example, is likely to affect their abortion experiences. Finally, it is suggested that providing a non-judgemental context, and challenging negative discourses on abortion, may be the most effective way of minimising the possibility of negative emotions

Evidence for involvement of GNB1L in autism

Structural variations in the chromosome 22q11.2 region mediated by nonallelic homologous recombination result in 22q11.2 deletion (del22q11.2) and 22q11.2 duplication (dup22q11.2) syndromes. The majority of del22q11.2 cases have facial and cardiac malformations, immunologic impairments, specific cognitive profile and increased risk for schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The phenotype of dup22q11.2 is frequently without physical features but includes the spectrum of neurocognitive abnormalities. Although there is substantial evidence that haploinsufficiency for TBX1 plays a role in the physical features of del22q11.2, it is not known which gene(s) in the critical 1.5 Mb region are responsible for the observed spectrum of behavioral phenotypes. We identified an individual with a balanced translocation 46,XY,t(1;22)(p36.1;q11.2) and a behavioral phenotype characterized by cognitive impairment, autism, and schizophrenia in the absence of congenital malformations. Using somatic cell hybrids and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) we mapped the chromosome-22 breakpoint within intron 7 of the GNB1L gene. Copy number evaluations and direct DNA sequencing of GNB1L in 271 schizophrenia and 513 autism cases revealed dup22q11.2 in two families with autism and private GNB1L missense variants in conserved residues in three families (P = 0.036). The identified missense variants affect residues in the WD40 repeat domains and are predicted to have deleterious effects on the protein. Prior studies provided evidence that GNB1L may have a role in schizophrenia. Our findings support involvement of GNB1L in ASDs as well. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Understanding why women seek abortions in the US

BACKGROUND: The current political climate with regards to abortion in the US, along with the economic recession may be affecting women’s reasons for seeking abortion, warranting a new investigation into the reasons why women seek abortion. METHODS: Data for this study were drawn from baseline quantitative and qualitative data from the Turnaway Study, an ongoing, five-year, longitudinal study evaluating the health and socioeconomic consequences of receiving or being denied an abortion in the US. While the study has followed women for over two full years, it relies on the baseline data which were collected from 2008 through the end of 2010. The sample included 954 women from 30 abortion facilities across the US who responded to two open ended questions regarding the reasons why they wanted to terminate their pregnancy approximately one week after seeking an abortion. RESULTS: Women’s reasons for seeking an abortion fell into 11 broad themes. The predominant themes identified as reasons for seeking abortion included financial reasons (40%), timing (36%), partner related reasons (31%), and the need to focus on other children (29%). Most women reported multiple reasons for seeking an abortion crossing over several themes (64%). Using mixed effects multivariate logistic regression analyses, we identified the social and demographic predictors of the predominant themes women gave for seeking an abortion. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings demonstrate that the reasons women seek abortion are complex and interrelated, similar to those found in previous studies. While some women stated only one factor that contributed to their desire to terminate their pregnancies, others pointed to a myriad of factors that, cumulatively, resulted in their seeking abortion. As indicated by the differences we observed among women’s reasons by individual characteristics, women seek abortion for reasons related to their circumstances, including their socioeconomic status, age, health, parity and marital status. It is important that policy makers consider women’s motivations for choosing abortion, as decisions to support or oppose such legislation could have profound effects on the health, socioeconomic outcomes and life trajectories of women facing unwanted pregnancies

Voices of vulnerable and underserved adolescents in Guatemala: A summary of the qualitative study \u27Understanding the lives of indigenous young people in Guatemala\u27

In Guatemala, where poverty, inequality, and ethnic and gender discrimination are prevalent and where over 40 percent of the country’s 11 million inhabitants are under age 15, the transition from childhood to adulthood is often characterized by severe social, economic, and health problems. Existing data indicate that adolescent girls in Guatemala—most specifically indigenous girls—suffer from the highest rates of school desertion, early and unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, illiteracy, and limited life options. Access to health, education, and other services is lacking or inadequate for indigenous adolescents in Guatemala, and often plagued by barriers including lack of financial resources, language, discrimination, and deeply engrained cultural traditions and beliefs that perpetuate gender inequity. This report focuses on qualitative, ethnographic research findings from a study conducted by the Population Council in 2003 with young Mayan women and men aged 12–19. Participatory methods were chosen to allow participants to explain in their own words what living and growing up in their communities is like, what they aspire to, what challenges they face, and what opportunities they are able to identify